Triplett
A nickname surname probably referring to a third-born child or a set of three, with a later English spelling shaped by the word “triplet.”
The #1,965 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,772 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Triplett is generally treated as a nickname surname built on the idea of “three” or “a triplet.” In older English usage, it may have been applied to someone who was one of three children born at once, or more loosely to a third child in a family. The ending -ett may reflect a diminutive or spelling influence rather than a separate root.
History
The name is found in English records under a variety of spellings, including Triplet and Triplett. Nineteenth-century writers already linked it with the idea of being one of three at a birth, though that explanation is suggestive rather than provable in every case. The modern surname is especially well established in the United States, where it remains uncommon but recognizable.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century commentator explicitly glossed Triplett as probably referring to an ancestor who was one of three at a birth.
From the historical record
“Tolman. Triplett, Ten Tenant. Ticklepenny.”
— Ludus Patronymicus; or, the etymology of curious surnames